Situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, in the mountainous and
in parts inaccessible north-eastern region of the Caucasus, once flanked
by the Russian and Iranian empires, Daghestan is today the southernmost
border republic of the Russian Federation. Over half of the population of
2.5 million lives in 700 lowland and mountain villages. There are 31 distinct
ethnic groups, each with its own language. In a mountainous region in the
south-west, near Derbent, lives a small multi-ethnic, multi-faith group
of people, the Kaitag, who have over the centuries created remarkable and
vibrant works of art in the form of small rectangular panels embroidered
with vividly coloured silks. While today the Kaitag are a small 'nationality',
they were among the first inhabitants mentioned in Arabic sources in the
7th century, and were famous as stubborn warriors until the 1850s.

The first recorded settlement of the Kaitag area was by Albani tribes in
around 500 BC. Since then the history of the region has been one of constant
struggle against successive waves of invaders - Sasanians, Huns, Arabs,
Seljuk Turks, the Mongol 'Golden Horde', followed by Timur, the Ottomans,
the Iranians and, finally, the Russians. Under Tsarist and Soviet rule Kaitag
lost its political identity. Until then the villages were run as free societies
with a self-contained pattern of life that preserved an unbroken tradition
of design and craft. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Zoroastrian and pagan symbolism
were the remarkable legacy of this past.

The art of Kaitag embroideries survives in less than 1,000 examples,
dating from the 16th century (under Ottoman influence) through to the 19th
century, mostly now in museum and private collections throughout the world.
The Kaitag embroiderers were blessed with a special artistry and inspiration
beyond that found elsewhere. This was linked in part to their greater awareness
of the international silk and textile trade that passed through nearby Derbent
on the silk route along the Caspian Sea, bringing a greater volume of different
styles and approaches than could have been seen by artisans working in other
materials. The vast repertoire of bold designs - from such a small region
- that give the Kaitag textiles their beauty and fascination is a result
of the history of the region, through which so many different conquerors
had passed during the previous two thousand years.

These embroideries were not only once put to practical use as pillow
covers but were important for the domestic ritual occasions connected with
birth, marriage and death. Babies were protected from the evil eye by placing
talismanic embroideries at the head of the cradle with the embroidered side
facing inwards. On the first day of a wedding ceremony, the bride would
come to the groom's home carrying her jewellery and nuptual presents wrapped
in a cloth, again with the embroidered side facing inwards. On death, the
custom forbade looking upon the face of the departed so it was covered with
a cloth, embroidered side down. The cloth would not be buried but passed
from father to son.

As with felt making today, the Kaitag panels were embroidered by local specialists
and sold to other villagers. They were not made on a frame, as one might
expect - often the maker would work crouched over the embroidery, which
was laid out on the ground. Many of these textiles were created freehand,
and sixteen different stitches have been identified, which show the great
versatility and skill of the embroiderers who worked the silk, which was
once widely produced in Daghestan. A large variety of natural dyes was also
available in the area: at least eleven different yellows came from locally
grown plants, and Derbent was famous for exporting the roots of the madder
plant, which yielded a range of reds.

Kaitag art speaks to people of diverse cultural traditions. French art-lovers
respond to a proto-Matisse style; in Sweden they see ancient Scandinavian
art; Australians are reminded of Aboriginal art and in the US they see Abstract
Expressionist paintings. Indeed, all these echoes are references to the
common experience of the primal appeal of Kaitag embroideries, which is
based on shared animist archetypes. This has been reflected by the emergence
of collectors from many parts of the world: Turkey, throughout the rest
of Europe, the Middle East, Australia, the United States and, of course,
Daghestan.

Robert Chenciner is a Senior Member of St. Antony's College, Oxford,
and an Honorary Member of the Daghestan branch of the Academy of Sciences
of Russia. In 1986, he was granted permission to travel in Daghestan. His
curiosity had been roused by an illustration in a book on the decorative
arts of Daghestan by Dimitri Chirkov, published in Moscow. He then discovered
a small collection of embroideries in a local museum and after further research
in Russian museums, he and Dr. Magomedkhan Magomedkhankov of the Daghestan
Scientific Centre of the Academy of Sciences of Russia embarked on a series
of journeys through the villages of Daghestan.

The publication in 1993 of this remarkable collection of 47 embroideries
in Chenciner's Kaitag Textile Art of Daghestan
brought Kaitag textiles to the attention of the world. Since its publication
this collection, which represents most of the known patterns, has been presented
at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris (1994), Christinehof Slott, Sweden
(1994), and the Deutsches Textilmuseum, Krefeld, Germany (1995). Other Kaitag
exhibitions have been shown in Boston (1994), Sydney and Melbourne (1995).
The Sabanci Museum now presents Kaitag Embroideries, Textile Art of Daghestan
for the first time in Turkey.